Most conventional cable video systems provide subscribers with a number of different viewing choices. The different viewing choices are broadcast on separate channels, and a subscriber selects a viewing choice by tuning their television to the channel associated with the viewing choice. The number of viewing choices is limited by the number of available channels. An additional limitation in conventional cable video system is that the times at which the viewing choices begin are fixed.
One service provided in conventional cable video systems that has gained popularity is pay-per-view channels. Pay-per-view channels make available to subscribers selected viewing choices that start playing at fixed times. A subscriber contacts a cable station to request that he view a viewing choice that is being provided on a pay-per-view channel at a fixed time. The cable station responsible for programming the pay-per-view channel then switches the connection to the subscriber so that the viewer receives the broadcast of the requested viewing choice beginning at the designated start time. Different viewing choices are output on respective channels. One limitation to pay-per-view systems is that all subscribers must view a selected viewing choice at the same time. Video-on demand systems have been proposed that would solve this limitation. However, there are problems associated with video-on-demand systems.